This sweet little dresser got its color completely out of fear.
Fear that the mahogany color would bleed through whatever light color I might paint it. It seems like most of the pieces I have worked on lately have done that. It is frustrating and time consuming to say the least! I thought that, worst case, if the "red of dread" showed up, I could distress and wax it until it looked intentional.
Because I have had a crush on grey/yellow combos, I painted the base coat in Annie Sloan Graphite. Then I whipped out my stencil collection and chose a bird and branch stencil. I wish I had real art skills, but I don't, stenciling is about as artsy as I get! ASCP makes such a great "primer" coat for other paints so, I just pounced on some lemon colored crafty paint and here ya go. A bird dresser.
I think it would look great in a nursery, or an entryway, or maybe upstairs in my house.
With my current paint color, it wouldn't work. I am really feeling the need to paint my living area something other than what my realtor calls Martha Stewart Taupe. But we have an open living area with what seems like 40 foot ceilings in the entryway. When I painted the last time, I had to rent a ladder to get to the top. About 1/2 way through, I got scared (I seriously hate heights) and suggested that we hire someone to finish it. My husband reminded me that, I got myself into this mess and that the ladder had to be back in 2 hours. So, I finished it. And promised myself that I would never do that again. But, now I want to paint it some shade of white. I am in love with the Urban Farmhouse look and taupe just ain't cutting it!
Oh wait, I was talking about a dresser! Let's just say that I love this one and would consider painting my house to keep it.
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Welcome to The Shabbiest Chick! My name is Chrystal and I am the happily married wife of one, and mother of four ~ all boys! I live in The House of Testosterone. I am passionate about my family, my home and coffee. I love to restore and recreate, taking the old and giving it a new life as a future heirloom. Come along with me, but grab a paint brush, we've got work to do!
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That turned out awesome! I blogged about a bird project tonight, too! Must be something in the water!!
ReplyDeletehttp://bluestarantiques.blogspot.com
I'm a sucker for anything with a bird on it...I really have to edit myself or I would buy it all. Good job! Don't lose sleep over the paint dilemma. It will work itself out.
ReplyDeleteThat is really cute. Birds are so popular too. Good job!
ReplyDeleteOh, I just love this!
ReplyDeleteooh i love this! the color is awesome as is the stencil! and i have totally painted pieces black before because of fear of bleeding! ;)
ReplyDeleteThose birds really caught my eye! Love the whole piece. Mahogany, as beautiful a wood as it is, is still a pain with paint! Graphite is a perfect choice.
ReplyDeleteLove this! Everything you do actually :):):)
ReplyDeleteJust gorgeous! I would never think to do use this stencil, but I am loving it and wanting to try something similar. Great work!
ReplyDeleteI love it! You did a great job of making it look cheery but elegant. You should keep it. I know what you mean about the ladder. We painted our living room in a previous house- I got 2/3 the way up the ladder and had to climb over the balcony wall, couldn't go back down the ladder. We hired someone to do this living room.
ReplyDeleteLOVE IT! I would keep it if it were mine!
ReplyDeleteOh, and I've had bleed through issues with "red" finishes lately, too! Thank goodness for Annie's dark wax!
ReplyDeletejust beautiful!
ReplyDeleteOh that is darling!! It might look great in a lot of homes...very sweet....
ReplyDeleteWhat color do you consider "farmhouse"?
Nancy
Love. Love. It!!! You come up with the best stuff!! I don't know if you have tried this, but using a Shellac Base Primer usually stops the bleed through. It has worked for me. I usually use Zinsser B-I-N Primer ultimate stain blocker.
ReplyDeleteAmazing! I totally totally love it!
ReplyDeleteThat is so gorgeous! Great job!
ReplyDeletebeautiful!! I need to pull out my stencils and see if I can get inspired!!
ReplyDeleteThis dresser looks great! I love the birds!
ReplyDeleteThe bleed-thru you experience with mahogany and other woods is called tannin bleed. You can prevent it by using an oil-based primer. Of course, those of you who use chalk paint are used to not having to prime! But it's a necessary evil sometimes. I had to deal with tannin bleed when painting a dresser that's similar to yours. But I learned my lesson and now it's all good!
ReplyDeleteLove the birds - and I really like that there are so many of them to give it a really neat dimension! This project would be perfect for our linky party featuring "Transformations" called Repurpose-Remodel-Reveal, I know our readers would love to see it too! (It starts tomorrow- Friday, March 16th 2012 at 7:00 am and reoccures every 1st and 3rd Friday)
ReplyDelete-Whitney @ TheRoosterAndTheHen
I love this! I have a desk I want to stencil, and I love your choice of birds!
ReplyDeleteLove it! The birds really show it off. Really like the colors together also. Beautiful job!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful dresser. Very unique. I would love if you stopped over to my Creative inspiration linky party (happening NOW) and linked this up! I would love to have you there!
ReplyDeleteStacey of Embracing Change
http://staceyembracingchange.blogspot.com
Oh. My. Goodness. This piece literally took my breath away. It's AMAZING. I hope you don't mind, but I've pinned it for inspiration.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful dresser!!!! Love all the birds, you did a great job with all the stenciling! It makes a real statement!
ReplyDeleteWhere would I find the stencil you used? I am decorating my daughter's nursery with birds.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely beautiful!! where did you find the stencil??
ReplyDeleteThanks Karen! I am pretty sure it was a Hobby Lobby find :-)
DeleteI use a spray on shellac whenever I have problems like "bleed through" and it works great! Especially w/the chalk paint, as it just goes right over it.
ReplyDeleteLove how it turned out though - great color combo!